


Shall We Dance?

by Coroniel



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: F/M, Fluff, mentioned Takizawa Seidou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25792048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coroniel/pseuds/Coroniel
Summary: Of all the things Amon has had to do in his line of work, dancing might just be the most unexpected. Thankfully, Akira is willing to help him.
Relationships: Amon Koutarou/Mado Akira
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Shall We Dance?

It was only a short while after the raid on Kanou’s lab that Amon and Akira found themselves in Marude’s office again.

This time, it was for an undercover mission set to take place in two weeks. A rash of cases had popped up with women found dead in alleys, clearly attacked by a ghoul. All of the victims had gone to a certain dance hall the day of their death, so their killer was thought to be one of the men there. But except for that and a possible pattern regarding the choices of the ghoul and its feeding time, there was no other information to track down the ghoul.

“The two of you will go there and observe. Carry handguns or small quinques with you; anything bigger will be too conspicuous. Follow anybody suspicious, but don’t engage unless a life is at risk.” Marude looked up from the case file he was holding. “Any questions?”

“Must we be a part of the event?” Akira asked.

“Yes. It’ll make you blend better than just loitering around. There’s not much to it; just go dressed up and do a few dances.”

Amon stiffened at that. “Dance?”

“One of those waltzes,” Marude said casually.

“Aren’t there other investigators available, sir? We’re on the Rabbit case—”

“This will only be for an evening. Are you really going to find some breakthrough on Rabbit in that time?”

“But…”

“Is there a problem, Amon?” Marude asked, clearly not pleased.

Amon swallowed, then admitted in a low voice, “Sir… I don’t know how to dance.”

There was an awkward silence. He held back the urge to fidget.

“I will teach First Class Amon to waltz,” Akira quickly spoke before Marude could. Both the men turned to her, one in satisfaction and the other in surprise.

“Good,” Marude said, at the same time Amon sputtered, “A-Akira?”

“We cannot allow this mission to be compromised because of something like this. Surely you understand. Two weeks should be enough to rectify this.”

She was right but… No, there were no ‘but’s. They were doing this to stop a dangerous ghoul and protect people; Amon knew his embarrassment shouldn’t factor at all into it.

“Now that you have it settled... you’re dismissed.” Marude waved them off. They didn’t hesitate to leave.

While they were walking back to their office, Akira spoke to Amon.

“It really is a shame you don’t know how to dance. Haven’t you ever tried it?”

“Why would I?” he asked. He had never been one for recreational activities, even in school, and nothing had changed as an adult.

“It’s fun, for one,” she said as if it should be obvious. “But also, many types of dances require flexibility, poise and good balance. All things as important in battle as they are in dance.” She gave him a brief glance before saying, “Push-ups aren’t the only way of training, Amon.”

Amon opened his mouth to retort, found himself lacking in words, and ended up muttering, “I do weight-lifting too…”

He tried to ignore his partner’s smothered laugh.

* * *

They had decided to meet up in the evening, an hour after work, to start their first ‘class’. Amon had only been to his subordinate’s home once before, when she was drunk. He hesitated in front of the door for a while, but finally mustered the courage to ring the bell.

A minute later, the door was opened. Akira was standing there, wearing casual clothes—something which he’d never seen her in before. He suddenly felt overdressed in his suit.

She didn’t make any comment though, only saying, “Good evening, Amon. Come in.”

He returned the greeting, removed his shoes and entered, also murmuring a “hello” to her cat who was lounging in the living room. The place was clear of any sort of clutter, making it perfect for practice.

They faced each other.

“So how are we going to…”

“Just listen to me,” Akira said confidently.

She crossed the distance between them, taking one of his hands and placing it on her back while clasping his other with hers. He swallowed, tensing up, and his nervousness wasn’t helped when she rested her left hand on his shoulder. She was too close and too warm. Like that night...

Amon pulled his mind back to the present, desperately hoping Akira hadn’t noticed him zoning out. This was not the time for those sorts of thoughts. Akira seemed wholly unaffected by their position, so he took in a deep breath and tried to emulate her.

“We’ll start off simple. Take a step forward with your left foot.” She added before he could start, “Oh, and by the way, Amon, if you stamp my feet, I'll stamp yours—with my quinque."

Despite the casual tone, her eyes narrowed in a clear warning, and Amon hurriedly nodded in understanding.

For the next half an hour, the two practiced the box step. While Amon stumbled and hesitated, Akira was the exact opposite. Every movement of hers had a graceful edge to it. It became even more apparent when they tried with music.

"Follow the beats. One, two, three," Akira advised him in-between. "Don't keep doubting yourself."

He frowned. That was easy to say but not so much to do, especially when he kept feeling overwhelmed by Akira's performance in comparison to his own. He tried not to look at her, gaze locking on the empty space above her head, but a slender hand pressed on his cheek and tilted his head to meet Akira's amused eyes.

"You should keep an eye on your surroundings, but you also shouldn’t ignore your partner."

“Ah, um, sorry,” he mumbled.

Focusing on her, drawn in by the quiet contentment in her expression as the song progressed, his nervousness started to vanish and he stopped concerning himself with how he moved. Soon enough, they had formed an easy rhythm between them, and after that he lost count of how many times they had done the same dance.

Amon snapped out of the trance when Akira said at last, “That’s enough for today. Your homework is to do this at home. I expect you not to miss a single step tomorrow.”

“Understood,” he said as they moved apart, already determined not only to reach her expectations but exceed them. She was taking valuable time from her day just for his sake. He wouldn’t let it go to waste.

The slight upturning of her lips told him she had enjoyed this entire thing. He wouldn’t say it had been fun… but it hadn't been as bad as he imagined, either.

* * *

“Perfect.”

Amon couldn’t explain how relieved that single word of praise made him feel. Coming from Akira, it was something to be treasured.

“I’ve never seen you this tired,” she commented, looking him over. “Want a drink?”

In the six days since they had started this, Amon never stayed after they were done. But this time, he truly was exhausted—Akira was trying to teach him an entire choreography—so he agreed. It didn’t take long before she was back with two mugs of coffee, handing one to him as they both sat down.

“At this rate, you should be up to scratch by next week. Who knew you had a dancer hidden in you?"

He blinked, unsure whether she was being sarcastic or not. She only chuckled.

"Um… when—when did you learn to dance?" he asked.

"When I was in school. There was a competition, and I thought I would try for it. Since I entered the Academy though, I've never waltzed. Never had the time." Her expression turned almost wistful. "It's nice to be able to again."

That look in her eyes reminded him of how little both of them had outside of work. It had never bothered him before today, but...

"Even after this mission, we could… continue?" he blurted out before he could think through his words. "I mean, I'm still an amateur. I have a lot to learn from you."

Akira startled, letting slip a genuine smile.

Amon couldn't help but think he had never seen her look so pretty.

* * *

It was the day before the mission. Akira and Amon were trying to complete as much work as they could, knowing they would be losing that much time the next day.

When the lunch break started, people slowly filed out until it was only the two of them in the office, discussing more lines of investigation about Rabbit.

It was in the middle of the conversation that Akira said, "Oh, and Amon, let's test our dance for tomorrow one last time."

“Right here? Now?” he asked, looking around nervously.

“Why not? We still have time before the break ends, and nobody's here."

Not waiting for his reply, Akira took out her cellphone, fiddling with it a bit before finding a good song. She placed it on her desk and let it play.

“Shall we dance?” she formally asked Amon with a bow.

Taking their positions, they started. Akira let herself move on autopilot and focused her attention on her partner. He was doing rather well, definitely a great improvement from his first day. She couldn’t truly judge until they were out on the floor amidst others, but she was sure she had taught him enough for things to go well.

As they completed the last of the dance, she realised Amon wasn’t stopping. Still on autopilot, she followed as he continued onto several steps that she knew they had never done.

It was clear this wasn't coming naturally to Amon—his movements were stiff and hesitant—but the way he moved in circles or spun with her were well-executed for his level. Obviously he had been practising beyond what she told him to, and though she was a bit angry that he hadn’t mentioned it until now, that emotion was completely overshadowed by the pride and happiness welling within her. She hadn't expected him to be this sincere about wanting to learn more.

As the music neared its end, Akira couldn't hold back a gasp as Amon carefully dipped her down. It was deeper than she expected, but firmly held in his arms, losing balance was her last worry.

The song finished and the notes slowly faded away, but they stayed frozen just like that. Amon had lowered his head to look at her face-to-face, close enough that she could see the flecks in his teal eyes. Her gaze drifted to his lips, just inches apart from her own and slowly closing the gap—

The door slammed open.

Takizawa strode in angrily, fists clenched to his sides as he loudly said, “Why the hell is Juuzou so… so...” He saw them as they hurriedly pulled themselves upright and stopped mid-rant, staring at them wide-eyed.

Akira made a show of smoothing her coat, not trusting her voice right then. Her hands trembled just slightly as the adrenaline took its time to go away. Of all the possible interruptions...

“I apologise, Seidou,” Amon said, bowing his head, only barely holding back a blush. “I was—um, we were—we were practising our dance. For tomorrow’s mission. We didn’t think anyone would come yet.”

“Sure…” He still hadn’t stopped staring at them, his expression an odd mixture of incredulity and exasperation. Shaking his head, without another word, he went to his desk.

Akira let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Finally having found her calm, she turned to face Amon.

“Do the same for tomorrow and it’ll be fine.”

“The same…?”

“The _exact_ same,” she said with a smirk.

For the first time in her life, Akira was looking forward to a mission.

**Author's Note:**

> Warning, I’ve never waltzed. All of this is from research. So if something is wrong, I’d be glad to have it pointed out.
> 
> Can't believe this is my third fic with Amon learning something. Guess he needs more hobbies, lol.
> 
> inspired by this: https://i-need-a-shoosh-pap.tumblr.com/post/98599326974/amon-and-akira-have-to-go-undercover-in-formal


End file.
